Are You Still There?

9. Lena

Summary: Lex reveals why he needs Lena and what he is planning to do with her and their mother.

"CADMUS? But I thought that the DEO shut it all down..." Lena was slightly confused.

"We simply relocated." Lillian shrugged, "Now, Lex, dear. What exactly did you summon me for? You know I'm a very busy woman."

"Yes, 'Lex, dear' what did you want?" Lena sat down in one of the chairs next to Lillian.

"Well, Mother, Lena, as much as it pains me to say, I need your help. Mother, I understand that CADMUS has been working on some new weapons. Psychological manipulation weapons, correct?"

"Perhaps..." Lillian eyed him cautiously, "Why?"

"I need one strong enough to take down Supergirl and Superman."

"Of course this is about your obsession with those aliens." Lillian sighed.

"Yes, Mother, I suppose it is."

"And again I ask, what do you need me for then?" Lena was starting to get annoyed.

"You, dear sister, know how to make kryptonite. I will definitely be needing some of it. I could just go to L-Corp and get the supplies like you mentioned, but I still need someone experienced to make it. I can't risk an amateur doing it for me."

Lena was massaging the temples on her forehead,

"You know, Lex, I expected a much grander plan instead of you just blasting kryptonite at them."

"Oh you underestimate me, Lena. I'm not blasting both of them. Just Supergirl. She has proven to be strong enough to take down Superman, being Earth's champion and all that, so I will use her to destroy him, before turning her against the civilians. That's when I come in and save the city, becoming everyone's hero. Also, until that happens I need to be in my cell as you so kindly reminded me by the end of the day, which leaves you to prepare everything until then." he proudly explained.

"I think it sounds like a wonderful plan, dear." Lillian smiled at him.

"This is ridiculous." Lena smirked, "It's never going to work. And how do you know that we won't try to mess it up for you, while you wait for us to 'prepare everything until then'?"

"I just trust that you wouldn't do anything to endanger your beloved 'Superfriends'." Lex muttered quietly, smirking.

Lena's heart rate quickened again. He really had her cornered. Either she made his kryptonite weapon for him to kill her wife or he destroyed her family and Kara would hate her forever. Either one would be a lose-lose for Kara. Think, Lena, think!

"Everything seems to be in order, so I'll just make sure that everything gets here on time and then I'll be heading back to prison. Enjoy each other's company." Lex said as he left the room and went back down the corridor.

Once he was out of earshot Lena turned to Lillian,

"Mother, this is madness. You can't possibly be buying this-"

"I don't." she interrupted, "Making up his schemes and getting arrested on his own time is one thing but interrupting my busy day to get me to help him make new toys is another. Your brother's smart. This doesn't make any sense. If he wanted to make kryptonite it wouldn't take long for him to figure out. This is rushed. This has a specific time frame he needs it done in."

She was right. Why hadn't Lena already picked up on that? Something was off.

"So what do we do?" She asked her mother.

"We're Luthors, we get our way."

"Ominously vague as always." Lena rolled her eyes.

"Don't be rude, Lena, I taught you better. I only meant that we won't be indulging in this fantasy of his.

"Oh? What makes this 'fantasy' so different from any others?" Lena laughed dryly.

"This one will actually work." Lillian sighed.

Lena was confused. She knew that there was something Lillian wasn't telling her. She gave Lillian a sceptical raised eyebrow.

Lillian sighed, "After we relocated, we kept working."

"CADMUS?"

"Yes, CADMUS. We got a hold of some of the kryptonite you made and we ran tests to be able to recreate it. We were able to extract a theoretical recipe to weaponize against kryptonians psychically."

"It was incomplete?"

"And untested. And then our mainframe was hacked."

"By Lex."

"Most possibly. I have a feeling he tried to follow it but because we hadn't tested it yet, it failed. He knows that you can make it, so my question to you is: what is he using as leverage against you? You know where the door is. You could easily bypass the biometric scan. You could just leave. And yet, here you are. Why?"

"He has them. Alex, Kelly, Emse, J'onn... If I leave, they die."

"And Miss Danvers?" Lillian pointed at Lena's wedding ring.

Lena stayed silent and fidgeted with it uncomfortably.

"Well, if he had Supergirl, he would have already killed her. I'm sure she's safe." Lillian shrugged.

Lena's brain took a moment to register what Lillian had said.

"You know?"

"Of course I know, Lena. You underestimate me." Lillian rolled her eyes.

"And yet you never did anything?" Lena was confused.

"As much as I despise her, National City needs her."

Lena nodded her head in appreciation. She needed to think. Surely Kara would already be looking for her, it's been hours since their phone call. There had to be a way to discreetly get a message to the DEO about her whereabouts. She just needed to focus.